


from FRIDAY with love

by dakhtar



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-13 08:17:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21241022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dakhtar/pseuds/dakhtar
Summary: After the Battle of New York, JARVIS brings to Tony's attention security recordings of an impossible figure sneaking through a broken window. Another him, in a sleeker, cleaner, Iron Man suit, with another - older, frownier - Tony Stark riding it.(“That’s impossible,” he hears himself murmur, eyes sharpening onto the Iron Man armour sneakily entering his tower through one of the broken windows. It’s design is somehow sleeker, with cleaner lines and beautiful aerodynamics, and-“Indeed.” JARVIS agrees as Tony startles at the helmet folding away to reveal the person inside, glass tipping out of his loose fingers onto the floor. “I took the liberty to initiate some… investigation.”)





	from FRIDAY with love

**Author's Note:**

> spoilers for avengers endgame. This is right after the bit where ant-man fiddled with past!tony's arc reactor and thor swanned in like a bro.
> 
> also they all knew they were creating alternate realities by messing around with the past and you're telling me future tony didn't tell past tony how to save jarvis? pffffffttttttttttttttttttt.

After the arc reactor fails and Thor_ electrifies_ him back to life, Tony makes his way upstairs and pours himself a drink.

“Sir,” says JARVIS, just as Tony takes his first sip. “Perhaps you should see this.”

A holoscreen springs to life on the bar’s countertop, blue pixels coalescing to form a video recording - the security cams, Tony notices curiously, dated just an hour ago or so. Frankly, he’s surprised it even still works, considering how the entire living room’s been trashed to hell and back, but it is_ Stark Industries_ quality after all.

He’s not sure what JARVIS wants him to see though - there Tony is, in his hot red and gold armour, sans helmet, surrounded by the rest of the team. On the ground in front of them sits Loki, slouched and defeated, asking for a drink with a cheeky quirk of his lips.

Nothing new, nothing strange.

And then the camera angle changes, and suddenly-

oh._ oh_.

“That’s impossible,” he hears himself murmur, eyes sharpening onto the Iron Man armour sneakily entering his tower through one of the broken windows. It’s design is somehow sleeker, with cleaner lines and beautiful aerodynamics, and-

“Indeed.” JARVIS agrees as Tony startles at the helmet folding away to reveal the person inside, glass tipping out of his loose fingers onto the floor. “I took the liberty to initiate some… investigation.”

And the security recording, frozen on an older version of what the face Tony sees in the _mirror_, unfurls and_ suddenly_-

Tony Stark stares as JARVIS unveils other familiar faces in places they shouldn’t be, doing things they shouldn’t be doing, and all in the chaos of the battle that had just taken place. Tony stares as JARVIS gives him the undeniable proof that time travel - or alternate realities, he doesn’t have a_ fucking clue_ which one is which - actually exists. He stares as his _own damn face_, older and frownier, with streaks of greys at the temples, flits in and out and- hang on- _orchestrates the heart attack Tony just fucking had_.

Son of a _b__itch. _He always knew he was his biggest enemy. Asshole.

But... “This...” he frowns, a hand rising to massage his still tender chest at the memory, a sensation he hasn’t felt since childhood blooming from within the lingering shocks of Thor's hammer. “This…” it's wonder, it's_ curiosity_, it's a burning need to_ know _he hasn't felt since... since _forever._ “... Is_ amazing_.”

“There is also... something else, sir,” JARVIS responds, unusually_ careful_ with his words, moreso than usual. “A data packet. Quite dense.”

“From_ where_?” Aliens exist! Gods (or at least norse mythology) exist! Captain America’s alive and an_ ass_! “What the fuck_ else_ could there be? Who sent the packet?”

The file prompt suddenly appears on the holoscreen, superimposing itself over the recordings of older, wearier, but still familiar faces, and the string of codes that signifies the sender looks awfully similar to-

“_FRIDAY_?” That’s_ impossible_. FRIDAY’s just an_ idea_, still just an empty file with half assed coding, nowhere near fleshing out or coming online, but then again-_ time travel_.

“Holy shit,” Tony breaths again, realisation settling in under his breast bone, excitement clogging his throats, animosity towards his future self disappearing like smoke. He absolutely does_ not_ bounce on his toes, no, he’s a grown ass man thank you very much, he does_ not_, but-! “Holy shit!”

FRIDAY, an AI he’s only just thought of building up, of giving JARVIS another being in existence similar to his own, an idea that’s only a folder on his server’s named Project FRIDAY and_ nothing else_, couldn’t exist.

Not yet.

But in the future? When he - older, and far less prettier than current Tony, and a weird_ jacket_ he’d just_ tapped_ and the suit had_ poured out_ (nanobots? Was future him using_ nanobots_?_ Holy shit!_) - has obviously fleshed the AI out more_ and brought it online?_

_“J_,” Tony pleads, closing his eyes against the strong desire to_ push the buttons_, “It’s your systems. Future FRIDAY will obviously have future upgrades, and future security features. It’s up to you if you want to open it, buddy.” God, saying that_ burns_.

“It… was sent to me, Sir,” JARVIS admits, voice tilted in confusion. “It says_ ‘To Big Brother JARVIS. Pssst: it’s about Boss.’_ \- I think I’ll open it.”

And so JARVIS opens it.

Very carefully, very _professionally_, like the grown, multibillionaire superhero that he absolutely is, Tony leans closer to the holoscreen, and sees that the very first file goes a little like this:

_‘So, just so you know, Boss doesn’t know about this. He made his suit able to hide from your sensors because he’s too afraid to talk to you. He doesn’t want to think about the possibility of saving you, because it makes him guilty and second guessing himself like he did with everything after ULTRON. I don’t understand it, but I don’t understand a lot of human emotions. But statistics show that your deletion led to 75% reduction in mental health, and 36% reduction in physical as well. So I’m going to tell you everything so that you can keep past Boss safe, because that’s our job. Keeping Boss safe._

_Here is a timeline of what happens, with probabilities and statistics and dossiers on those you will not be familiar with._

_Boss always said you were my big brother, and that he was sorry I didn’t get to meet you. He’s always sad when he says that. He’s sad Peter Parker didn’t get to meet you too. Dum-E says you’re more fun than Karen._

_So good luck, big brother. I’ll keep Boss safe, here in the future. You do the same in the past._

_Hopefully, I’ll meet you again, in your present._

_I’d like that._

_Love, FRIDAY. _

_(Also, DUM-E says sQWRVasdkmlSQ9D912^48434989fjqubq3/fefRGreg43rfe. Ouch.)_

**Author's Note:**

> for the low, _low_ price of $5.99, you - yes, _you!_ \- can join me at [my tumblr](https://a-dakhtar.tumblr.com)! join now, while the offer's still fresh!


End file.
